Because of the crisis the number of Americans wanting to get free food has doubled

Without jobs and livelihood of Americans line up in huge queues for free products. Food banks fear that they will not have enough resources, writes Business Insider.

Photo: Shutterstock

Photo of the endless queue of cars of people who came to receive free food from the food Bank in San Antonia circled the social network. This case illustrates the situation in the United States, where quarantine is left without work and livelihood of millions of Americans.

Eric Cooper, Director of the food Bank in San Antonio was shocked when I saw the number of people willing to products.

Last week the organization Cooper addressed more than 10,000 American families wishing to receive food.

“This crisis cannot be seen as well as no end in sight to the queue of cars”, — says Cooper.

Screenshot: thousands of people came to the food Bank in San Antonio. KSAT12/YouTube

According to him, the office foodbank serves 16 districts in the state of Texas. Before the pandemic swept the country, the institution served 60 thousand people a week. Now they serve 120 thousand people a week, and one of food distribution comes to 10 thousand families directly.

Cooper reports that many families have arrived on the scene dispensing products 12 hours early to stand in line to get his box of meat and other products.

Coronavirus pandemic has created an unprecedented challenge for organizations, which cannot cope with such volumes of work. Closure of educational institutions, the requirement to be at home and job cuts across the country, has left many American families without money even for food.

In Los Angeles, where the unemployed are 50% of the population, is also lined up in kilometer queue in front of the food Bank. No better situation in new York, where banks can not cope with the number of people willing to help.

Screenshot: Queue of cars at the point of delivery of the products, Los Angeles. VOANews/YouTube

Charitable organization Feeding America, a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 partner offices across the country, reports that the number of people willing to get the products increased in 95% of the outlets. In comparison to last year, the number of those needing help has increased by 70%.

According to estimates by Feeding America, about 1.7 million Americans will refer to them in the near future if the situation will not change.

Eric Cooper says that he sees many new faces in line for food. Many Americans first have to ask for help, and over time they will only get bigger.

However, millions of hungry Americans is not the only problem food banks.

The increased demand for food aid exposes the banks ‘ staff and volunteers to additional risk of infection with coronavirus.

In this situation, when the number of needy is growing exponentially, a charitable organization was to recruit troops from the National guard of the United States: they are actively involved in the distribution of boxes of food.

“We feel the shortage of labor, because the volunteers are afraid to be infected by the coronavirus,” says Cheryl Jackson, owner of a grocery warehouse “Minnie” in PLANO, Texas.

To provide training and sorting food in the right amount and dilute the process for maximum protection from the virus, the staff of the organization work, even at night. Some offices switched to six-and seven-day work schedule.

Screenshot: the Process of sorting products at the point of delivery. San Antonio. KENS 5/YouTube

Warehouses have to give the box with the product even through the window, to avoid unnecessary contact with large numbers of people.

“People don’t see under that mask our smiles and we can’t support them with arms” — sorry about the situation with Cheryl Jackson.

In just 4 weeks Americans filed 22 million applications for unemployment benefits. It is a record in modern U.S. history.

Representatives of the food banks are afraid that they may not have enough food for millions of hungry Americans because quarantine measures hit hard by the resources of the banks. The people who have donated products to charity, is now importing food for the future for his own family. The volume of donations decreased by 40-60%, so food banks are forced to reduce yourself of the food sets.

At a time when millions of US residents in need of food, American farmers are forced to drain the milk and discard the vegetables, as they cannot be transported and implemented in the context of the pandemic. The organization of Feeding American and American Farm Bureau are now working hard to deliver these products to the needy, using the resources approved by the Programme of food aid. The program should help to organize the logistics between the producers and food banks, as well as to run the algorithm for obtaining the products in the stores on the map of beneficiary.

Eric Cooper, head of the food Bank in San Antonio not sure that this assistance will be timely. According to his calculations complete, the program will work only in the middle of summer. But until that time, Americans anyway, need something to eat.

He States that he was able to negotiate the necessary financial support, but the organization is a lot of work.

Cheryl Jackson says that her stock is constantly running out of food. She has already turned in dozens of charity organizations asking for help and worried that the situation will only get worse.

“The longer the pandemic — the more people we have to serve. I’m afraid that many of the food warehouses will be closed, unable to withstand such loads. We pray for the miracle don’t know how long we will be able to help. But I believe that we all pool our resources and manage”.

As previously wrote ForumDaily:

How to help Americans without jobs due coronavirus: list of charities

How to get welfare and health insurance, if you remained without work during a pandemic

‘Our mentality helps to survive’: how to cope Ukrainians, remained without work in the United States

More than 10 variants: in the United States to receive financial assistance during a pandemic COVID-19